Airport News
Below are news items relating to specific airports
Boris will fight plans for Heathrow mixed mode with “all powers available”
Boris Johnson has attacked the Government’s “half-baked” aviation policy as he warned that ministers are preparing to announce plans for 1,000 extra flights a week at Heathrow by their plans to allow mixed mode. He said mixed mode is “a noisy and smelly intellectual cul-de-sac”. It could allow up to 60,000 more flights per year. The Standard reports that risking a huge row with the Government, Boris says he will oppose plans for these increased flights with “all powers available” on grounds of air pollution and noise. The DfT has so far ruled out mixed mode at Heathrow but it is believed the scheme will now be re-visited in the Government’s forthcoming aviation white paper. A senior Tory source today said the Government is now willing to press ahead with plans for mixed mode operation as a “short-term” solution.
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Plans for Council decision on redevelopment of Carlisle airport delayed again – till August
Carlisle City councillors have deferred a decision on Stobart’s planning application for a 394,000sq ft freight distribution centre and to resurface the runway. They will hold further consultations before the plans come back before councillors, probably on August 3. Gordon Brown, the farmer whose application for judicial review led the Court of Appeal to quash a previous airport consent, argues that the latest scheme should also have been thrown out. The application was originally submitted over a year ago, and was due to be refused in July 2012, when Stobart asked for a delay so they could challenge arguments against the plans. Now Stobart chief executive Andrew Tinkler says he is frustrated by this delay, and threatens loss jobs etc if his plans are refused.
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Foster’s estuary airport plan funding depends largely on Heathrow landing charges, and closing Heathrow
The FT writes that, needing some £50 million (or more) Lord Foster and his team have devised a funding model they claim would avoid any significant increase in the landing charges currently paid by airlines at Heathrow - which the airlines are deeply against. However, this funding model would hinge on the support of the government and regulators, plus the co-operation of Ferrovial/BAA. Foster thinks £33 billion is needed for the airport, and they could get £10 billion from closing and redeveloping Heathrow. Then they could get £4bn from the development of land around the new estuary airport for facilities needed to support it. And £8bn from the landing charges levied on airlines using Heathrow between 2018 and 2028. A further £11bn would be raised through landing charges levied at the new airport during the decade after its opening, which is earmarked for 2028. Most of the money would come from Heathrow landing charges, and this problem could be overcome by giving the Ferrovial-led consortium the opportunity to take a controlling equity stake in the estuary airport.
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MPs ‘fighting the tide of history’ in proposing two more runways for Heathrow
Campaign group HACAN, representing residents under the Heathrow flight paths, has claimed the group of MPs who are proposing a third and fourth runway at Heathrow are ‘fighting the tide of history’. The Free Enterprise Group - Tory MPs - are pushing for this, as part of their package to stimulate the economy. Their report is co-authored by Spelthorne MP Kwasi Kwarteng, and it was published earlier this year. HACAN says all the political parties have recognized the difficulty of expanding Heathrow and are officially opposed to a third runway.” John Stewart added, “The irony is that, if a fourth runway ever saw the light of day, it would be built south of the existing airport, straight through Kwasi Kwarteng’s Spelthorne constituency.” Positioned where it is, to the west of London, already some 725,000 people live under Heathrow's flight paths. That's with just two runways.
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Free Enterprise Group of Tories now want not only a 3rd Heathrow runway, but a 4th too. By demolishing 4 villages.
This gets dottier by the day. The group of free enterprise advocate Tory MPs, called the Free Enterprise Group, is to publish a new report, which calls for .... wait for it .... not only a 3rd Heathrow runway, but also a 4th. Some members of the Free Enterprise Group are close to George Osborne, with Sajid Javid MP one of his ministerial aides. The Sunday Telegraph says the private sector has suggested that it would finance a third runway. The Free Enterprise Group’s paper suggests a 3rd runway could be built to the south and west of the airport on the town of Bedfont and Stanwell, a town with a population of 12,000. It is striking that many of the Tory MPs proposing this have constituencies near here. One of their members, Kwasi Kwarteng, MP for Spelthorne, was good enough to comment that "it was vital that residents were compensated for the loss of their homes" and “Even if you gave every resident £500,000 it would still be cheaper than Boris Island.” Meanwhile, Heathrow continues to use its valuable slots for flights to leisure destinations.
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Luton councillor and Luton airport senior director fail to attend local community meeting
Luton Airport operators and owners failed to show up at a meeting at a local village close to Luton's runway. More than 80 residents from local towns and villages met to engage in dialogue with them about plans to expand the airport. Robin Harris, who is a Luton Borough Council councillor, and Neil Thompson is Operations Director, at Luton Airport, were meant to attend. The campaign group, HALE (Hertfordshire Against Luton Expansion) said that though the airport and the council say they want to consult with people about their views, the empty chairs show there is no real commitment to listen to what people are saying about their proposals to expand the number of passengers to 16 million per year.
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Evening Standard: Let the many decide airports, not the few
(By Andrew Neather). Another day, another solution to London’s supposed airports crisis. This time Lord Sugar is talking up more flights at Stansted. Last month the Mayor called for a 2nd runway there. Whichever the solution — expansion at Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick or a new airport — the industry’s lobbyists are in overdrive. Apparently we’re about to become a backwater sleepier than Budleigh Salterton unless we build a 3rd Heathrow runway immediately. Perhaps a bigger Stansted’s the answer. The industry’s projections are based on essentially unlimited oil supplies and ignoring other realities. We need to hope Justine Greening's decision on airport expansion reflects the wishes of London’s voters — not those of a small and well-funded industry lobby.
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South East MP clash over Thames Estuary airport plans
Proposals to build an airport in the Thames Estuary airport were called both "preposterous" and essential in a debate between two South East MPs. During a parliamentary debate, MP Mark Reckless said plans by Boris for an estuary airport were outdated and proposterous, and "I think there's a very strong case for Gatwick". I think many regional airports can help with the load. MP Jo Johnnson (Boris's brother) predictably backed Boris in saying more capacity was needed, and a large new hub - pushing the usual line about the need for connections to "11 cities in mainland China that are expected to be among the 25 biggest cities in the world by 2025 and that only a hub airport can deliver that sort of connectivity?"
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Frankfurt protesters take their “holidays” in the airport terminal with all their holiday kit
The usual Monday evening protest at Frankfurt airport, against the aircraft noise that Frankfurt residents to the south of the city are now subjected to, took a slightly unusual turn this week. Protesters went on "holiday" at the terminal for the evening, with holiday clothes, Hawaiian shirts, straw hats, beach chairs, picnics, and even a paddling pool. Earlier they had a sleep protest, saying it was quieter to sleep in the airport than in their own homes, under the flight path. There are loads of their "holiday snaps" that tell the story.
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London City Airport: 25 Years of Deception
On the weekend that the Queen visited London City, a quarter of a century after she opened it, the campaign group HACAN East has claimed that residents have suffered ‘25 years of deception’. They have issued a pamphlet outlining the list of broken promises made by the airport to local people (City Airport, 25 years of broken promises). This shows how within a few years of the airport being allowed to open on the basis that there would be no more than just over 30,000 flights a year, using turbo-prop aircraft, it applied for permission to extend the runway and use larger aircraft. By 2009 it had permission to operate 120,000 jet aircraft a year. There has been a serious con played on local people by the ruthless airport aided by the weakness of Newham council.